


Gratitude

by Fyre



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-29
Updated: 2012-12-29
Packaged: 2017-11-22 21:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/614352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fyre/pseuds/Fyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby looked everywhere for her cloak. She even went to Gold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gratitude

Ruby was worried. 

More than worried. It was less than three days until the full moon, wolf’s time if the old rules were back in play. She didn’t know if they were. No one did. The magic in the new world wasn’t the same as it had been before. 

No matter which world they were in, her cloak would be a good safety catch, just in case, but it wasn’t anywhere to be found. The dwarves’ pickaxes had been found in storage in the hardware store, and Granny’s crossbow in the hunting supply store, so she had hoped her cloak might show up in one of the clothes stores.

No one had seen it. 

She had been hunting for days, when she had time to spare, when she didn’t have to help David try and keep the town in check.

It was desperation that drove her to the shop she had been avoiding.

The bell jingled above the door, and she looked around warily. 

It wasn’t that she was afraid of Mr Gold. She never had been, not Ruby. The Ruby of old Storybrooke liked the fact that he got Granny pissed so much, and made her forget to be mad at Ruby. Red, though, was something different. She remembered the stories and the legends and the whispers of old. Red could recognise a fellow monster.

The girl she was now wasn’t sure anymore.

All the memories were twisting together: monster, pawn broker, landlord.

And, of course, big soft teddy bear about Belle.

That had surprised her more than anything.

What kind of man could half-beat a man to death with his cane, but then give a girl a sweater to keep her warm? There had to be something more there. Belle spoke of him with a sad fondness, like she could see something there that no one else was seeing. 

When Ruby thought about him, she remembered the look on his face, the power he had used to save Belle, the relief and happiness on his face when she remembered him, the broken expression when Belle walked away. Belle never saw him deliver the key for the library, but Ruby was the one to accept the box. He had just stood there, just outside the door, and held out the box. 

“See she gets this,” he said quietly. 

“What’s the catch?”

He looked down at his feet, then back at her. “The catch is I want her to be happy. Make sure she gets it?”

So, Belle got a library and Ruby got over another little bit of her fear of him.

“Miss Lucas?”

She whirled around to see him emerge through the curtain separating the front of the shop from the back. “Mr…” She paused, frowning. “What do I call you now?”

One side of his mouth turned up. “That’s entirely up to you,” he said. “Dare I ask what brings you to my humble shop?”

She looked around, then back at him. “My cloak,” she said. “It’s coming up on wolf’s time, and I need it. Just in case.”

He hesitated. “I wish I could help, dearie,” he said, “but it’s not here.”

Ruby’s heart sank. “Are you sure? There’s so much here. It could be put somewhere…”

Gold, Rumpelstiltskin, whoever he was raised his hand to silence her. “I know everything that’s in my shop, Ruby,” he said. “Believe me, if I had your cloak, I would have returned it to you right away.”

She frowned at him. “You would?”

“You found where she went,” he murmured. “I owe you more than you know for helping us to find her and for befriending her.”

Ruby shrugged self-consciously. “She’s one of us,” she said. “Why shouldn’t she have friends?”

“Indeed,” he murmured. “And thanks to you, she remembers who she is to experience it.” He took a step towards her. “I owe you for that.”

Ruby stared at him. “You don’t do this much, do you?” she said.

“Do what?”

“Say thank you,” she said. “You don’t owe me anything. I would have done the same for anyone. There isn’t a price for helping her.” She wrapped her arms over her chest, watching him shift uncertainly from one foot to the other. “If you don’t have the cloak…” She began, then sighed. “Do you know anything else that could hold me?”

“Magic?”

She shook her head. “Anything,” she said. “Granny’s planning to do some home repairs, but just to be on the safe side…”

Brown eyes studied her, the man’s face unreadable, then he nodded. He retreated into the back of the shop and emerged a moment later, setting a set of heavy shackles on the counter, the metal dark with age.

“They were once enchanted,” he said, “to hold whoever was bound by them, no matter if they could change size or shape after the shackles were locked. I’m not certain whether the enchantment holds, but the iron will.” He met her eyes. “That should be enough to hold a wolf, given a secure anchor.”

Ruby picked up the shackles. They rattled together and she remembered the house she had shared with her grandmother in the forest. Sometimes, the old ways would have been easier. If they had time, they could build a cage in the future.

“How much?”

He shook his head. “No charge,” he said.

“I can’t just take…”

He made a sharp gesture with one hand. “I don’t offer much for free, Miss Lucas, but this once, I would be obliged if you would accept it in exchange for a thank you.”

Ruby shifted the chains in her hands and nodded. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

He nodded, and she knew they were done.

She left without another word.


End file.
